A day after he drew a sea of conservative activists to see him speak on the National Mall, Fox News host Glenn Beck appeared on "Fox News Sunday" to discuss the event. Beck said his rally -- during which former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin also spoke -- drew "on the low end 300,000" attendees up to "as many as 650,000." Beck explained that the gathering, which took place on the 47th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I have a dream" speech in the same location, was intended to reclaim the mantle of the civil rights movement from politics for people of faith. Beck addressed his critics who say that he has frequently engaged in racial politics, saying that "race should not be in politics." He said there is "not a chance" of a Beck-Palin ticket in the 2012 presidential race.

Beck said he didn't agree with King's calls for economic justice. "The real agenda should be equal justice, an equal shot," Beck said. "The dream was to judge man by the content of his character, not the color of his skin. I don't know that we've done that." The conservative commentator referred to his recent comments that President Obama is a "racist" with a "deep-seated hatred of the white culture." Beck said that his remarks miscast as racism the president's "liberation theology," which he said relies on the lens of "oppressor and victim" to understand the world. To his critics who attack his personal wealth, Beck said the money doesn't matter. "I think it's going to be worthless," he said, adding that he doesn't know "if it's going to be gold or acorns" that America will use as currency in the future.

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CNN: STATE OF THE UNION - Crist supports gay marriage ban

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan said that the administration will be rolling out two new initiatives over the next few weeks: an FHA refinancing plan "to help borrowers who are underwater in their homes get above water" and an emergency homeowners' loan program for borrowers who have become unemployed. Donovan also emphasized that the administration is focused on the connection between jobs and housing issues. "Let's remember, when we came into office what was driving this housing problem was bad loans. Today, it's jobs," he said.

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (I) and Rep. Kendrick Meek (D-Fla.), two of the Sunshine State's three Senate hopefuls, also sat down for separate interviews on the show. Both Crist and Meek said that they would push for an extension of the administration's $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers. Crist defended the administration's economic stimulus, stating that he didn't think it had failed in Florida and that if the state hadn't accepted stimulus money, "instead of 200,000 (jobs lost), it would have been 300,000." On health care reform, Crist said that if he'd been in the Senate at the time, he would have voted against it, and that if he gets elected, he'd "like to opportunity to help fix it." Crist said that he favors a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage but added that he describes himself as a "live and let live kind of guy" when it comes to same-sex partners living together. Crist also refused to say which party he would caucus with in the Senate if he gets elected. "This is a moot question unless I win," Crist said.

On the topic of the administration's economic team, Meek said that he would be open to taking some players "off the field." "When it comes down to it, if certain things are not moving, absolutely," Meek said. He declined to say whether he supports a second economic stimulus plan, noting that he needs to "look at the situation at the end of the fourth quarter and in the first quarter of next year." He said that it's time to let the Bush tax cuts expire. "It's important that we take those tax cuts back, give them to the middle class," Meek said, adding that Crist and former state House Speaker Marco Rubio (R) have not said how they'd get the money to pay for extending the tax cuts. "Are they going to borrow the money again?" Meek asked. Asked whether he will be able to compete with Crist for Democratic votes, Meek took a shot at Crist's decision to pursue an independent bid, charging that he "decided to bail out at the last minute." "There is no way in the world I would be sitting and talking to you right now as the Democratic nominee if I did not have staying power," he added.

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CBS: FACE THE NATION - Meek 'pretty sure' Obama will stump for him

Attorney Joe Miller (R), who is leading Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) in the Republican Senate primary tally thus far, said that "the government is going bankrupt" and that "everybody in this nation is going to have to do some belt-tightening." Asked whether that meant that he supports Alaska receiving less money from the federal government, Miller responded, "I think the answer to this is to basically transfer the responsibilities and power of government back to the states and the people," he said. On Social Security, Miller said that "if you've paid into the system, if you're dependent on the system, we have got to get the fiscal house in order at the national level so that we can continue to pay those benefits."

Rep. Kendrick Meek (D-Fla.) talked about his Senate bid. He took aim at Gov. Charlie Crist (I) for leaving his Republican primary against former state House Leader Marco Rubio (R) to run as an independent. "I stayed in my primary and fought, and that's what I'm going to do as United States senator," Meek said. Meek said that he's "pretty sure" President Obama will be coming back to the state to campaign for him. He also said that his rivals, Crist and former state House Speaker Marco Rubio (R), will be battling for the "tea party" vote.

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, chairman of the Republican Governors Association, and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) also appeared on the show. Barbour said that Republicans aren't "scared" of Miller's apparent win in Alaska because campaign committees "do not take sides in primaries." Wasserman Schultz said that Miller's win was evidence of the "raging battle going on within the Republican Party for the heart and soul of the Republican Party." Barbour countered that the administration and congressional Democrats "have taken the biggest lurch to the left in policy in American history."

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NBC: MEET THE PRESS - Landrieu: Lift the drilling moratorium

The show focused on the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina was the topic of discussion, with host Brian Williams in New Orleans. Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) called on the Obama administration to lift the offshore drilling moratorium. "A six-month moratorium has put a blanket of fear and anxiety, and it must be lifted as soon as possible," Landrieu said. She addded that she is not on the side of large oil corporations. "I'm not worried about hurting big oil," she said. "I'm worried about hurting Big Al's," adding that there are thousands of small businesses threatened by the moratorium.

Landrieu said Fox News host Glenn Beck is "preaching a gospel that never has existed."

"What Glenn Beck misses is that it's not just talking, it's about actions," she said, and "using articles of faith to do right by people." She blasted Beck's comments that New Orleans could be rebuilt by private industry alone. Landrieu said only about 5,000 of the nearly 200,000 homes that were lost in the storm had been rebuilt by nonprofit organizations.

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ABC: THIS WEEK - Duncan pushes teacher performance pay

Christiane Amanpour hosted a roundtable discussion on education featuring Education Secretary Arne Duncan, D.C. schools chancellor Michelle Rhee and American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten. Duncan framed education reform as an economic issue. "We have to educate our way to a better economy," Duncan said. "In this country we have a 25 percent dropout rate. That's economically unsustainable and morally unacceptable."

Duncan called for a better ratings system for teachers and merit pay to encourage teachers in difficuult situations. "We've had very few incentives and, frankly, lots of disincentives for the hardest-working, the most committed teachers and principals to go to inner-city communities, to go to rural communities, to go to the children in the neighborhoods who need the most help," he said. "Let me be clear -- financial incentives are a piece of that, but a small piece." Weingarten agreed with Duncan on improving teacher ratings, saying they have been "Johnny-one-note about changing evaluation systems."

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CSPAN: NEWSMAKERS - Lugar: Daniels for president

Ahead of President Obama's planned Oval Office speech on the end of the combat mission in Iraq, Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind) said that he sees Obama trying to end the war on a schedule that doesn't match the reality on the ground. "I think he feels that having made this statement or commitment or what have you to many persons in Congress or the public or the party as the case may be, that -- he doesn't proclaim victory, exactly; I'm not certain what the terminology will be in the speech -- but he says, 'This is my agreement and I'm fulfilling my pledge,'" Lugar said, adding that such an artificial timeline is probably a mistake. Lugar also said that a "large majority" of Republican senators will likely back the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, and that the legislation will be voted on after the November midterms.

Lugar said that the debate over the construction of the Islamic center near ground zero will likely continue. "It's a debate that is bound to ensue, given the sensitivity of 9/11, the people who died there, some of whom were Muslims as a matter of fact, but most were not, and the desire, really, in the country right now to want to keep this issue alive during a political campaign, which still has several weeks to go," he said. He also said that Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) should run for president. "I have encouraged him to run," Lugar said. "I think that he would be an outstanding candidate and a great president."

I WISH there WOULD be a "Beck-Palin" ticket. Now THAT would be absolutely Kafka-esque.

This nation FACES REAL, MAJOR economic challenges --- THE TECHNOLOGICAL ANSWERS TO WHICH ARE IN FACT GENERALLY KNOWN, BUT WHICH PEOPLE ARE, BY AND LARGE, VERY HESITANT TO SERIOUSLY EMBRACE AND ACTUALLY IMPLEMENT BECAUSE THE WHOLE ENERGY-PARADIGM CHANGEOVER WILL INVOLVE A HUGE DISRUPTION OF MANY LONG-STANDING "VESTED" "ECONOMIC INTERESTS".

If IDEOLOGICAL IDIOTS were to come along now and run candidates who would actually advocate dealing with the over-arching, primary economic concerns SIMPLISTICALLY (e.g. by "substituting" ersatz "EMOTIONAL" issues such as "abortion" v.s. "freedom of choice", anti-IMMIGRATION and/or anti-MUSLIM hysteria, and endlessly pretending that all "we" have to do is to stage some kind of RELIGIOUS REVIVAL and "go back to the good old days"), then people would actually be FORCED to face up to reality (if they actually DO in fact have the wit and perspicacity to do so) --- or else just let the whole country go, and sit back and watch while it circulates slowly 'round and 'round and on down the tubes.

At least THAT would put an end to the perpetual contentious "political" wrangling, and the "mantle of world leadership" would then be passed off to the Chinese, or whomever, QUICKLY.

I WISH there WOULD be a "Beck-Palin" ticket. Now THAT would be absolutely Kafka-esque.

This nation FACES REAL, MAJOR economic challenges --- THE TECHNOLOGICAL ANSWERS TO WHICH ARE IN FACT GENERALLY KNOWN, BUT WHICH PEOPLE ARE, BY AND LARGE, VERY HESITANT TO SERIOUSLY EMBRACE AND ACTUALLY IMPLEMENT BECAUSE THE WHOLE ENERGY-PARADIGM CHANGEOVER WILL INVOLVE A HUGE DISRUPTION OF MANY LONG-STANDING "VESTED" "ECONOMIC INTERESTS".

If IDEOLOGICAL IDIOTS were to come along now and run candidates who would actually advocate dealing with the over-arching, primary economic concerns SIMPLISTICALLY (e.g. by "substituting" ersatz "EMOTIONAL" issues such as "abortion" v.s. "freedom of choice", anti-IMMIGRATION and/or anti-MUSLIM hysteria, and endlessly pretending that all "we" have to do is to stage some kind of RELIGIOUS REVIVAL and "go back to the good old days"), then people would actually be FORCED to face up to reality (if they actually DO in fact have the wit and perspicacity to do so) --- or else just let the whole country go, and sit back and watch while it circulates slowly 'round and 'round and on down the tubes.

At least THAT would put an end to the perpetual contentious "political" wrangling, and the "mantle of world leadership" would then be passed off to the Chinese, or whomever, QUICKLY.

"I pray that Beck and Palin will run for president in 2012 , we need two Christians in charge to turn this country around. If Bidin is assassainated a republican congress can force Obama to appoint Beck as VP and then an impeachment or assassaination of Obama can elevate Beck as our president. This is not above God's power to make happen."
Posted by: ToddPollard | August 29, 2010 9:25 PM -------------------------------------------

This post exemplifies the complete ignorance of those who pray to a "God" for their moral values. Murder is how the republican religious right gave us Viet Nam and then Nixon/Agnew. They worship Ronnie Reagan and he was the first real deficit spending President. Republicans have cut taxes for their "class" of supporters while selling the country to their Arab brothers in arms. Were it not for the labor of democrats people like poster ToddPollard would be speaking German and saluting their heros like Beck and Hitler. Of course then they would be happy and free of the required intelligence that real democracy demands. Darwin was correct and we can only hope extinction is swift and complete before these incredibly stupid creatures destroy whats left of America. The republicans would do well to remember that the labor democrat is the very one he depends on to save his failures in peace and in war for he neither works to produce anything nor does he ever serve in war, he simply occupies space and takes up time better spent doing something productive.

I pray that Beck and Palin will run for president in 2012 , we need two Christians in charge to turn this country around. If Bidin is assassainated a republican congress can force Obama to appoint Beck as VP and then an impeachment or assassaination of Obama can elevate Beck as our president. This is not above God's power to make happen.

I pray that Beck and Palin will run for president in 2012 , we need two Christians in charge to turn this country around. If Bidin is assassainated a republican congress can force Obama to appoint Beck as VP and then an impeachment or assassaination of Obama can elevate Beck as our president. This is not above God's power to make happen.

charlie, charlie, charlie,just like your party affiliation you think you can call your self anything and it is so.
wrong again,please also stop marrying these women, some one is going to spill the beans, then you'll be forced out. if you don't come out on your own ala melman, don't vote against your own interest.
you are GAY admit and keep on moving.
or go the craig and foley route when it all explodes around your ankles in a men's restroom.

Charlie Crist is proof that Ken Mehmlan should be commended for doing the right thing. Charlie is living in the past, living a lie. He's been caught numerous times in gay bars and from 1979 to 2008 was a "bachelor." He covered for Mark Foley. Just do a search on Google.

Hey Charlie, did you NOT read/hear about Ken Mellman this week? He was a big old closeted Queen and so are you! No one believes you are str8 just because you married a woman for cover. Your "marriage" to Amanda in 1979 lasted less than a year and this VERY recent marriage to Carole isn't fooling anyone about your sexuality. I feel so very sorry for the women involved, but they're adults who should know better.

This stance of yours will cost you many more votes than it will get you.

If ever the statement, "You only hurt the ones you love," were more true. Get over your self-hatred and come over to the Dem side. You will be welcomed as a recovering Republican and major gay figure.

Considering all the stories about Charlie Crists gay lifestyle in the past I flnd it hypoocritical of him to now oppose gay marriage in a foolish attempt to get more conservative votes. Apparently Charlie loves to play both sides of the fence it seems ..in politics and in his personal business too..dont be fooled..you cannot trust him or your vote..

"Crist said that he favors a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage but added that he describes himself as a "live and let live kind of guy" when it comes to same-sex partners living together."
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Yeah, live and let live kind of guy, except for that whole equality thing that's guaranteed by our Constitution, that Charlie doesn't think applies to gay people. You'd think after the Ken Mehlman outing, Charlie would have had a change of heart. Sorry, Charlie... but the rest of us don't think it's okay to have to pretend to be straight to fit into society, all the while demonizing people that share your sexual orientation. Charlie is clearly a sociopath. His only concern is for himself. In his mind the millions of gay citizens can just go back in the closet and be forced to live a lie just like he does. Charlie you're a vile human being; and I look forward to the day when you're finally exposed with your own personal "rent boy". There's a special place in hell for people like him and Ken Mehlman.

Charlie Crist, the next Ken Mehlman? After being outed last year in the movie Outrage, Crist continues to pretend as though he is straight. In the meantime, he is hurting millions by his reactionary stances on the issues of the LGBT community in an attempt to prove his "masculinity." I hope he goes down in flames in November.

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